MARK TWAIN
(Harvey Geller; Martin Seligson)

My Grandad used to tell me, "Boy, when I was just your age,
I was a river pilot on a shovel showboat called 'The Stage'.
I'd hobnob with them southern belles and every roustabout.
I'd listen to them paddle wheels and hear the leadsman shout."
Mark twain, it's two fathoms deep below.
Mark twain, heave the gangplank, start the show.
Mark twain, play those banjos as we go.
Down the Mississippi, round the Gulf of Mexico.
There were gamblers, crooks and pickers and a minstrel man who danced,
A singing gal, Simone l'Amour, imported straight from France.
It was a floating palace, boy, that shovel showboat called the stage,
And Grandad was the king of it when he was just my age.
 
The calliope is quiet now, the rudder's thick with rust,
The main deck and the paddle wheels are covered thick with dust,
But Grandad's in his glory, still standing on the bow,
A halo round his pilot's cap, and I can hear him now.

(From a Kingston Trio album)